2020 Mission Billion Challenge: Global Prize
Phoneless Holder Wallets for All
One-line solution summary:
People without Smartphones can own a portable hardware wallet that securely stores digital verifiable credentials & present them offline.
Pitch your solution.
Individuals from vulnerable and marginalized populations can, without smartphones, have user-friendly access to digital credentials to support remote access to services and benefits.
Our solution can connect to conventional registration systems providing a way for these systems to issue privacy preserving digital verifiable credentials that operate in a decentralized way. Digital verifiable credentials secured by public-private key cryptography to prevent tampering that allow individuals to receive these credentials from parties if they have a smartphone. We have adapted a low cost hardware wallet to enable issuance to and use of these digital IDs by marginalized people. They can control their own keys that are generated and maintained in the secure element. To interact with, read and share the credentials all that is needed is commodity hardware with NFC capability.
This positively changes lives by providing access to digital credentials regardless of literacy, connectivity and infrastructure.
What specific problem are you solving?
One way to provide “digital identity” to citizens is to create a central database that enrolls all resident’s names and collects biometric information about everyone and then opens up an API to allow services and businesses to authenticate the biometrics of people who appear before them by checking them against the database. The problem is that the government can ‘see’ everywhere people authenticate.
A new language is emerging to issue digital credentials, based on open standards, from governments to citizens but in a decentralized way that allows them to prove information about themselves to service agencies and businesses without connecting back to that central database. Governments in Canada, the United States, and Europe are all actively working to build systems using the open standards. However, it was designed to work with apps on smartphones or web. Our solution solves this problem by issuing the digital credentials to low-cost hardware meaning it is accessible by all even in remote locations. The ID4D program asserts that 1 billion people don’t have access to generic identity documents and only 44% of people have smartphones. We make this innovation in digital verifiable credentials accessible to all, indiscriminately.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
First of all it matters that governments with existing or emerging registration systems (like MOSIP or OpenCRVS) can add our technology to existing and emerging systems.
Secondly our solution serves everyone without a smartphone. Our solution also has tools for the issuance and reading of credentials by anyone with a entry level smartphone. So it supports a whole range of potential “credential issuers” well beyond just a central government issuing a foundational ID document.
Our executive team has been in the field in South Asia and Africa working to enable individuals to have the power to control their own life through development of sustainable societal reintegration programs, recently including digital identity.
Digital credentials anchored to decentralized identifiers and secured by public-private key cryptography are revolutionary in their architecture but were inaccessible until now.
Digital identity is bigger than just interacting with governments. People need it to interact with a range of institutions and centralized systems don’t allow for the organic complexity of identity usage. To get a complex economy rolling it needs more information then what one simple government ID can provide. Our solution enables a range of institutions to issue credentials in this format.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Explain how the problem, your solution, and your solution’s target population relate to the Mission Billion Challenge Global Prize and your selected dimension.
Countries in the global north are developing and implementing decentralized identity standards requiring smartphones to hold the software wallets to manage the digital credentials. This means it is inaccessible to billions of people. Our solution directly addresses this problem with a low-cost hardware wallet that means everyone could potentially have this type of digital identity. Everyone without their own smartphone is our target demographic. Our solution means folks who share a phone can separately manage their credentials and manage their own cryptographic keys. Our open source software for the issuer app also means credentials could be issued in remote locations.
Where is your solution team headquartered?
Zug, SwitzerlandWhat is your solution’s stage of development?
Who is the primary delegate for your solution?
Sergio Mello, CEO
If you have additional video content that explains your solution, provide a YouTube or Vimeo link here:
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
Describe what makes your solution innovative.
Digital Identity is a wicked problem. There are many stakeholders with many different needs. One need is for governments to support their residents/citizens being able to assert attributes about themselves where the government is an authoritative source - such as name, birthdate, place of birth, the information on a birth certificate. In a complex economy people need to be able to prove information about themselves to a wide variety of organizations, government agencies and people in a complex economy. Paper/card based systems have been developed over the last 100 years to do this but have problems including fraud and provenance. Early digital identity systems to solve this challenge by enabling authentication the veracity of an individuals identity by pinging the central database and centered a lot of control with the issuing authority (examples including in India, Estonia and Singapore). This type of architecture creates massive privacy/surveillance/security issues and has scaling challenges.
Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized identifiers are an innovation that created a new dimension of performance in the issuance of credentials. They created a new universal language to issue credentials to individual holders (to a smartphone wallet) without requiring the parties that rely on the credentials (banks, schools, government services) to connect to the central service that issued them to believe their veracity. They instead rely on the cryptographic signatures. Our solution builds a new dimension of performance on top of this by making it accessible to anyone whether they have a smartphone or not.
Provide evidence that your solution works.
Our technology is use in the field being used by two companies who are working with the United States Government on their Silicon Valley Innovation Program which has been investing in creating systems for the identity of people, organizations and things using the open standards (Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers). From a broader perspective, the same card-based digital wallet platform is used by the National Bank of Cambodia for real time gross settlement authorizations and by New Balance for fighting counterfeit.
Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers solutions are working throughout the world:
The World Economic forum is coordinating the Known Traveler Digital Identity pilot program with the Canadian, and Dutch Government, two airlines and three airports to support passengers being able to pass through their whole travel journey using these verifiable credentials at each step along the way.
The British Columbia Government is implementing this technology and investing in open source code development and has built the Verifiable Organizations Network.
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
What is your theory of change?
Do people “need” identity documents? or do governments “need” to give them to them to people to create in their minds an idea of where they belong? The nature of these systems, their origins and the meanings are being explored by a range of scholars in a variety of disciplines. Mawaki Chango in his PhD thesis Becoming Artifacts points out that today’s identity systems came about through a series of accidents and were not designed to do what we are asking them to do today. None-the-less they materially exist in paper and digital form and many systems and structures in today’s global economy rely on them. The question then becomes if these documents are required to interact in everyday life but if they are not available to all then this furthers in-equality.
The identity of people is more complex than just the information provided on a government ID card. Complex economies require the exchange of much more information about people and it is best to support this happening to have the person be the locus connection & control for those information flows.
Our product broadens accessibility to emerging privacy preserving and versatile identity technologies (Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers) that are gaining traction in the global north and becoming part of government technology road maps and RFPs.
We are a company focused on applying technology for good. Our theory of change is to make products that change the accessibility of these tools and systems so that people without a smartphone can have equitable access.
Our theory of change doesn’t involve changing how governments choose to enroll their citizens in foundational identity systems or how they manage CRVS systems. The main adopters of the technology that makes change for our target population is governments. We have made all of the software needed to interact with our hardware solution open source and freely available so it can be integrated into existing systems.
Solving wicked problems like identity at the scale of this challenge requires simple solutions at key leverage points and our technology can impact billions of lives because it does this.
How can your solution be incorporated into identification systems?
There are two parts to our solution: the first Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers is already being integrated into digital identity systems by governments led by Canada, the United States and European Union Countries. They all have assumed smartphone adoption and/or regular web usage by the individual holders of these credentials. Our part of the solution is the hardware that means the benefits of these new standards for digital identity based on public-private key cryptography can be made available to the masses, without friction or unjust direct and indirect social cost.
Governments can issue verifiable credentials to people via our hardware on our cards and the private keys associated with the holder/individual are within the secure element and so can’t be exposed to the government, to the holder and anyone else. This is a breakthrough that means cards can be provisioned without expensive trusted infrastructure.
The software to read verifiable credentials from our hardware is free and open source so it can be run in a stand alone way or integrated into applications in the field. This means government agents could read credentials presented to them on our solution on commodity hardware that has NFC readers. Existing computers simply need an off-the-shelf NFC reader.
We are a complement to the existing registration system and our tools can be integrated with existing systems based on existing identity technology standards. We are exploring working with emerging open source projects like MOSIP and OpenCRVS to develop modules that work with their systems.
Describe how 'user friendly' your solution is to incorporate into a digital identification system.
Which users are we trying to make things easy for?
Our solution is easy for many different types of users of digital identity systems.
For the individuals who have no access to a smartphone it gives them the ability to control private keys and associated verifiable credentials.
For governments seeking to issue these credentials in a low cost way to all people including those without smartphones our solution provides a way.
For governments seeking to issue credentials in the field for example with rural health workers issuing certificates of live birth our solution provides a way.
For governments seeking to expand services in the field our open source software
supports agents/employees in remote locations and in diverse agencies being able to easily read credentials presented to them in the field our solution provides a way.
For commercial enterprises seeking to grow the enrollment in services like banking that require KYC and want to leverage the credentials issued by the government without directly federating with a government systems our solution provides a way.
For communities that are less connected to formal central institutions (such as indigenous peoples) who want to issue credentials to the people in their region our solution provides a way.
Explain how your solution is interoperable with existing technologies and open standards.
Our solution is based on many open standards.
Our solution fits in with an ecosystem that is emerging around the open standards of Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers. We provide a simple hardware solution, a chip with a secure element.
The architectural incorporates the following base specifications and standards:
- Verifiable Credentials Data Model (Standards Development Organization - W3C) - Decentralized Identifiers (W3C),
- JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data / JSON-LD (W3C),
- on-card secure and encrypted storage (as per Secure Data Stores (Encrypted Data Vaults); W3C CCG & DIF joint work),
These industry standards, platforms, technologies are in our stack:
Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless communication.
GlobalPlatform standards for management and provisioning of secure elements with certified security and standardized (NIST) cryptography, e.g. FIPS 140-2 compliant key management.
FIDO U2F standard for authentication
Architecture of Derived Personal Identity Verification (PIV) Credentials
The business process surrounding the issuance of credentials can be built on top of governance frameworks like those being developed in Canada to articulate interoperable meaning for the credentials that are issued by various institutions that are in a country. International governance networks are leveraging these new credentialing methods including GLEIF and SITA.
How does your solution account for low connectivity environments and for users with low literacy and numeracy levels?
Commodity smartphones with NFC readers can issue credentials and read credentials in remote locations.
The chip is certified EAL6+. Therefore trusted.
Firmware is audited and auditable. Therefore Trusted.
So the combination of these NFC trusted hardware and asymmetric cryptography makes it possible operate a full lifecycle of issuance and verification without internet connectivity.
IP68 rated hardware component means that you can swim with it and it will retain its integrity. Other form factors besides card can be adapted to different environments.
People low digital literacy and with low numeracy skills can manage their own credentials.
The User experience is very simple because users keep the card in their pocket and tap it to present it (for in-person uses and for remote usage). This is a much simpler experience than having a smartphone wallet to manage the storage and presentation of verifiable credentials.
We also have an interface that is NFC dongle or a smart device that can implement audio feedback, text to speech, visual representation of quantities & numbers and authentication status. These interfaces can be innovated even more rapidly by partners in the field because it is open source.
Select the key characteristics of your target population.
How many people does your solution currently serve? How many will it serve in one year? In five years?
Our digital hardware wallet currently has 100,000+ users, we will have 2,000,000 users next year and 100,000,000 in 5 years.
Our Identity solution currently has 200+ users, we will have 500,000 users in one year and 100,000,000 users in five years.
The short answer is Billions of People!
What are your goals within the next year and within the next five years?
We look for solutions that will have a transformational impact on billions of lives.
Next year we will consolidate product market fit where our applications have greatest impact.
In five years we will scale up using organic and external resources, building on the aforementioned cases.
Our goal is to have our solution being used by billions of people. We plant to achieve scale by providing a tangible solution to how privacy preserving credentials.
What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year and in the next five years?
Market Awareness
Willingness of Governments to adopt interoperable technologies without fearing loss of control.
Incumbent industry (Telcos) may perceive our technology as destabilizing and undermining their dominance in digital life.
How do you plan to overcome these barriers?
Thought Leadership,
Education,
Industry Education,
Solid pilot and proof of concepts.
What type of organization is your solution team?
How many people work on your solution team?
20 Full time 10 part time.
How long have you been working on your solution?
10 years
Why are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
Sergio Mello, CEO
Sergio has an unusual combination of European, Asian, and American business acumen with an unrelenting belief in the power of information technology to transform trust for global good. He has focused knowledge of electronics, software engineering, product design, user experience design, financial technology, and identity standards.
Sergio has experience working first hand with marginalized communities in 2003 he helped starting a school for street kids in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. In 2016 he also worked full time for a charitable fund with the mission to improve kids healthcare and education in Asia. Sergio was developing the tech for good investment thesis.
Andrey Kurennykh, Co-Founder & CTO
Over his 20 plus year career, Andrey has leveraged his talent with computing and microelectronics to disrupt business as usual in financial services and telecoms on a global scale. Andrey has specific technical expertise in embedded systems, programming, security for smartcards, secure microelectronics, mobile platforms and development, blockchain technology, and applied cryptography. He has industry experience and specific knowledge of Telco., banking, and ID standards especially those related to ISO, GlobalPlatform, GSMA, EMV, NFC, ICAO, and protected hardware security and certification (Common Criteria)
Vijay Sondhi, Board Member
Vijay Sondhi is the CEO of NMI, a leading provider of payments enablement technology. Formerly, as a senior executive of Visa, Vijay was responsible for launching and operating Visa’s flagship One-Market Innovation Center. Center. Mr. Sondhi also served as Visa’s Head of Corporate Strategy and Senior Vice President / GM of Visa’s Cybersource and Authorize.net businesses.
What organizations do you currently partner with, if any? How are you working with them?
We have many partnerships; some we can talk about and others that we can't. In the identity space we have partnered with Transmute Industries, Evernym and more.
We are members of the Linux Foundation and Hyperledger, Trust Over IP and the Decentralized Identity Foundation.
We have worked with the largest global system integrator and consulting companies.
What is your business model?
We sell low-cost hardware that stores Verifiable Credentials and manage’s a user’s DID and associated private-keys. These can be sold both to the governments that issue credentials and direct to consumer. We provide all the software needed to interact with the cards free and under open source licences so that they can be integrated into existing systems.
Optionally, we consult on the software stack and co-build with system integrators.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, or to other organizations?
What is your path to financial sustainability?
We are a 10 year old project that has just completed a Series A round of funding for 15 million dollars. We will reach operational breakeven within a year from now.
If you have raised funds for your solution or are generating revenue, please provide details.
We are a 10 year old project that has just completed a Series A round of funding for 15 million dollars from SBI. We will reach operational breakeven within a year from now.
If you seek to raise funds for your solution, please provide details.
We are not currently seeking funds.
What are your estimated expenses for 2020?
We can not disclose this information publicly.
We will reach operational breakeven within a year from now.
Why are you applying to the Mission Billion Challenge Global Prize?
We are applying to the Mission Billion Challenge Global Prize we care deeply about finding a use-case and mission, billions provide a fast track solution to impact the lives of billions of people.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
What organizations would you like to partner with, and how would you like to partner with them?
We would like to partner with organizations who are providing low cost stable solutions for identity registration and CRVS such as MOSIP and OpenCRVS. Our open source components can fit well with their offerings and provide a way to do identity document issuance that is in alignment with the emerging open standards for decentralized identity. We are also interested in exploring how our solution can fit with the existing vendors of registration systems.
Also directly with government to endorse / enforce our solution at scale, top down.
Please explain in more detail here.
We have a solid team with solid funding and proven technology. We are applying to this challenge because we know we have a solution that can reach billions of marginalized people. We have been heads down building for years and now that we have a product that works we are seeking all available avenues to share and spread the word about it. We are seeking to build a network of operational and strategic distribution capability. Through our participation in this challenge we hope to connect to more governments and other partners that the World Bank has.
Solution Team
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Sergio Mello Tangem
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Solution Name:
Phoneless Holder Wallets for All